The rule of food and retirement
- col-teri-stein
- July 8, 2021
- 1111
My sister and I were texting back and forth. “I’ve got a hair appointment at 10,” she wrote. “So I’m picking up lunch on the way home.”
“It’s the rule,” I wrote back. No matter that we made up that rule ourselves. The rule is if you are away from home and anywhere near a restaurant at a mealtime, it is a must you pick up food to take home. Nothing is worse than running errands, going to an appointment or grocery shopping and returning home hungry without a readymade meal. Even if it is just fast food, we are not picky.
I went into shock when I retired and realized how overwhelming meal making is, and it is nonstop.
When I was working, I did not worry about cooking that much. I probably made three to four meals a week, and the rest of the time we ate sandwiches, leftovers or ate out. During the work week, I packed my lunch bucket or went out for food. Joe got his own lunch.
All this meal making is getting on my nerves. I am ready to declare it is now every man or woman for themselves, at least at lunch. I do not want to be “in charge” of meals anymore.
Today I was on another cleaning-out streak. I had not been on one since Jan. 1, and it was July 1, so I was right on schedule for my every-six-months cleaning streak. I was on a roll and had already filled one large trash bag with clothes to donate and had started on a second. What drawer am I going to clean out next? Nothing can stop me now.
“Do you want to ride along?” Joe asked as he got ready to leave for an errand.
That would be a “no,” but then I looked at the clock. It was 11 a.m., almost lunch time, and I remembered “the rule.” I was, of course, thinking he wanted me to go along so we could stop for lunch.
“Sure, I’ll go,” I replied.
We went about the errand, and I heard Joe say his goodbyes to a friend, and then he said, “We’re going home now.”
Yeah, that is what I heard, but I knew we were going to stop for food. I have informed Joe of “the rule” many times. Why else would you leave the house around a mealtime anyway?
We were only in the car for a short time when he turned in the direction of home.
“We’re not really going to go home are we?” I asked. “I thought we were going to get something to eat.”
If there is not food involved, I would just rather stay home. When I was working with people with disabilities and taking them on outings, we did a lot of fun things, but if there was not food involved, no one really considered it an outing. I get it. If it is a choice of staying home or getting food, I am out of here. But if food is not involved, well, I do need to do some more exciting drawer and closet clean-out.
Back to our trip. I hate to be a rule breaker, but we went home. Thankfully, Joe piped up with a suggestion of what he was hungry for, and I got right on the phone. I picked up our order and was incredibly happy because now I did not have to make a big meal at suppertime. Sandwiches it is.
I never did get back to my cleaning-out streak. Guess I will have to wait another six months, but a miraculous thing happens when you clean out stuff. You make extra room and unbury stuff, and then the clothes fairy stopped by my house! Well, at least I think so. Because just a day or two after the clean-out, I found a brand-new pair of jeans I did not even know I had and a really nice pair of new shorts too. And they fit.
What really happened is still a mystery, but one thing is for sure: The clothes fairy is definitely better than the tooth fairy.